NYC Subway Riders Grab Suspected Groper

Sometimes, tolerating big-city transit requires imagining your happy place or staring a hole through your iPhone. That’s why we love this story about New York City subway Good Samaritans who jumped into action and dragged a passenger from the train after a woman accused him of groping her. Does the Muni humper ring a bell?

The video of the whole takedown is above, including the accused perp getting arrested.

We know, we know, innocent until proven guilty. But don’t you just love the idea of a little subway justice?

2 comments

Hey RLM, I’m no lawyer, but I was curious about your assertion, so I asked one. He pointed me to Cal. Pen. Code Sec. 837, which states (among other things):

834. An arrest is taking a person into custody, in a case and in the manner authorized by law. An arrest may be made by a peace officer or by a private person.

He also directed me to this:

A private person may arrest another:
1. For a public offense committed or attempted in his presence.
2. When the person arrested has committed a felony, although not in his presence.
3. When a felony has been in fact committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it.

Are my friend and I missing something? Citizens arrests seem perfectly legal in California as long as it’s a felony (which I”m pretty sure groping is considered) and the person making the arrest witnessed the crime (which they did in this case).